Shoshana M. Lew (born 1983) is a career government administrator currently serving as the executive director of the

Colorado Department of Transportation The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT, pronounced See Dot) is the principal department of the Colorado state government that administers state government transportation responsibilities in the state of Colorado. CDOT is responsible fo ...

. She is the daughter of former

United States Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal ...

Jack Lew.

Career

The

Colorado Senate The Colorado Senate is the upper house of the Colorado General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Colorado. It is composed of 35 members elected from single-member districts, with each district having a population of about 123,0 ...

confirmed Lew's appointment to the position of

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, thoug ...

of the

(CDOT) on February 5, 2019. Prior to heading the Colorado Department of Transportation, Lew worked from April 2017 to January 2019 as the chief operating officer of the

Rhode Island Department of Transportation The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) is a Rhode Island state government agency charged with design, construction, maintenance and inspection of a wide range of transportation infrastructure. These include 3,300 lane miles of stat ...

. Before her appointment to Rhode Island's Department of Transportation, Lew worked for eight years in the Obama administration. The federal government positions she held were Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Department of Transportation, Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs, U.S. Department of Transportation, Senior Adviser, U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and Policy Adviser, White House Domestic Policy Council. Lew has a bachelor's degree in history from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and a master's degree in history from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...

. Lew's first position after she completed her graduate degree was at the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...

, where she served as policy analyst and research and policy assistant in the organization's Metropolitan Policy Program from 2007-2009.

Tenure

Under Lew's tenure, the Colorado Department of Transportation has placed a greater emphasis on sustainable transportation, as opposed to freeway expansion. Under her leadership, the Colorado Transportation Commission approved a policy designed to stop any increases in

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and ...

from transportation in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, by requiring transportation planners to calculate any emissions associated with a project and mitigate accordingly. The policy was approved by the State Transportation Commission on a 10-1 vote. Apart from environmental benefits, this policy could deliver $40 billion in economic benefits, including fewer traffic collisions. Under this policy, the governor-appointed Colorado Transportation Commission would have authority to restrict funding for use only on climate-friendly transportation projects if the CDOT or a regional planning authority fails to meet its emissions reduction target. Lew stated that this policy allows for capacity increases, but that major projects would require offsets in the form of climate-friendly additions. Examples include the Bustang and Flatiron Flyer bus systems that serve Colorado communities. The transportation commission would also have the authority to grant waivers to this policy. Lew stated this policy enables Colorado to "lead by example" in reducing emissions, in the face of increasing impacts of

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. The policy has received nationwide plaudits for "showing us how to end America's addiction to highway expansion". However, it also received criticism for some who were concerned that the CDOT had become "preoccupied with cleaning the air." In her capacity as CDOT executive, Lew also serves as the CDOT representative to the Denver region's Regional Air Quality Council.

References

External links

CDOT bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lew, Shoshana State cabinet secretaries of Colorado United States Department of Transportation officials Harvard College alumni Northwestern University alumni